


keep my eyes from looking too far up

by inquisitor_tohru



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Blood Magic (Dragon Age), Character Study, Community: writetomyheart, Elemental Magic, F/M, Magical Artifacts, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:53:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29807310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/pseuds/inquisitor_tohru
Summary: Magic wasn't easy for Jowan, full stop.
Relationships: Jowan/Female Surana (Dragon Age)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1
Collections: write to my heart





	keep my eyes from looking too far up

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the **write to my heart** shiritori community! My starter was _"I know."_

"I know, I know, just give me a  _ second."  _ Unable to reach the birchwood staff slung across her back in such tight quarters, Medea conjured a flame with what appeared to be nothing more than a sleight of hand. Jowan knew better. Mages didn't need their staves to be dangerous, but without them their magic could just as easily be turned back on themselves without sufficient concentration and control. The light from the flame illuminated Medea's olive-toned skin and the sharp points of her ears, burning bright in her dark brown eyes as they moved down the cramped passageway. She made it  _ look _ easy, but it wasn't.

Magic wasn't easy for Jowan, full stop. 

The senior mages in Kinloch Hold had done their best with him, he knew. They'd let him practise with numerous staves as he tried in vain to hone his magic, but it was a hopeless endeavour. He didn't have the kind of raw talent that apprentices like Medea or Anders had been blessed with, and he didn't have magic in his blood like Solana Amell - or so he'd thought.

As it turned out, there was a  _ lot _ you could do with blood.

Jowan didn't see what all the fuss was about - it wasn't as if he was making deals with demons or binding them, or participating in human sacrifices! It was the coppery scent of his  _ own  _ blood that made him feel like maybe he'd have a chance if the templars ever tried anything. He'd heard of such things happening, in other Circles. There were tales of Templars going rogue, slaughtering mages who'd passed their Harrowings or, worse still, subjecting them to the Rite of Tranquility. Maybe it wouldn't happen here in Ferelden...but he didn't like how that one with the noodly blonde hair looked at him. That guy gave him the creeps even worse than Carroll did.

His elbow bumped against Medea's as they pressed on, her loose sleeves rippling. Somehow she  _ always _ ended up with the best robes after bartering with the other apprentices. Her story was that she'd learned to haggle back in Denerim's alienage, before her magic revealed itself and the templars dragged her away and brought her to the Circle, but Jowan always felt like there was some other trick he was missing.

"How much further?" He winced as something wet and slimy brushed against his shoulder, and tried not to think too hard about what it might have been. At least it meant that they were nearing the lake. Probably.  _ Hopefully.  _ The ancient network of tunnels and caverns beneath the lake seemed only to be known among a select few apprentices and, though Jowan had been invited, the very walls seemed to prickle at his presence, and thoughts of the ceiling collapsing under the weight of the water seeped into his mind.

"About a quarter of a mile to the cavern I told you about." Medea moved swiftly, businesslike, and he wondered how many times she'd come down here to train when he'd stayed dutifully in bed. Maybe all of the other apprentices did that, and  _ that's _ why he was so behind? "It should be empty, and the structural integrity is...well, you'll see when we get there."

When they reached the cavern it wasn't much wider than the passage, but its crystal-studded walls went higher than Jowan could see. The journey hadn't exactly been  _ short,  _ but he'd never have imagined they'd come this far underground.

"Pretty impressive, right? These crystals won't break, either. They'll help augment your magic." She paused, slimiling at the way the flickering flame reflected in one of the larger ones. Some were clear, while others were streaked with smoky white. "We can't take them with us, though."

"Why not?" 

"Well, they're not ours. I mean, they are, but not  _ just  _ ours. Think of them like a community resource. Like a secret library." Jowan thought about reminding Medea that you could in fact borrow books from the Circle's library, before remembering that she'd been prohibited from doing so (and that it was still a bit of a sore spot). 

He watched in wonder as she raised her staff, focused on casting, and the crystals sparked with magic, resonating with the graceful arcs of electricity that leapt upwards, as if to seek the heavens. 

"What  _ are  _ they?" They clearly weren't lyrium, but neither were they dealing with simple quartz. The air in the cavern simmered with mana, so much that his eyes had begun to itch. Rubbing at them with the corner of his rough woolen sleeve didn't help.

"I _think_ they're kind of like runes." She shrugged and gave Jowan an odd look, as if he was missing the point. He probably was, and he'd never really understood how runes worked or had much cause to take much of an interest. Perhaps he ought to remedy that with a trip to the library. "Obviously not _exactly_ like runes." 

"Obviously," Jowan said, like he understood. The crystals only seemed to react to elemental magic, though he couldn't help wondering what would happen if opened his veins. 

He'd been meaning to tell Medea about his dabblings for a few weeks now, but declaring oneself a blood mage in a Circle swarming with templars wasn't exactly a smart thing to do, which was kind of funny when Jowan thought about phylacteries. The hypocrisy! Even the other mages weren't what he'd call forgiving or open-minded when it came to outlawed magic, though there was no way he was alone in practising more... _ experimental  _ magic. At the very least, he'd heard talk of using menstrual blood for such purposes (though whether or not that counted as 'real' blood magic was a hotly debated topic). 

But for now, he raised his own staff, and watched as the weak flame he conjured fanned out, spiralling around them like a beautiful, fiery wreath. That  _ definitely _ made up for the minor inconvenience of itchy eyeballs.

As did the smile plastered across Medea's freckled face.


End file.
